


Better than your Former Self

by Chibifukurou



Category: Kingsman (Movies)
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Alternate Origin Story, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Hospitals, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Prostitution, Recreational Drug Use
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-28
Updated: 2018-07-28
Packaged: 2019-06-16 15:00:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 16,534
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15439641
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chibifukurou/pseuds/Chibifukurou
Summary: Eggsy has put his life on hold to protect his Mum since his Dad died. He never thought he'd have to stop, but when Daisy gets hurt he is forced to choose.Does he risk Daisy to protect Mum? Or does he go against his Mum's wishes and call on the Kingsman for help?





	Better than your Former Self

**Author's Note:**

> A huge thank you to [AetherLogic on Tumblr](http://aetherlogic.tumblr.com/) for their amazing art. And to the mods at Kingsman Big Bang for running this fun challenge.

It was snowing, wet clumps of it hit Eggsy's jacket and clung. He'd gotten a few Johns tonight. He had made enough to pay the gas bill Dean had skipped out on paying, and formula for Daisy so she didn't starve.

None of that would matter if he froze to death on the walk home. He stamped his feet, trying to keep the bottoms free of ice. His flash trackie and good trainers, weren't built for going out in the snow. But John's weren't likely to pick him up if he was bundled in a jumper and coat.

The Estate loomed as he turned the corner. Snow covered up the dirt and paint stained concrete of the walls. It made the place look more desolate. The flats were stacked one on top of the other, each floor pushed back a little way so the whole structure looked like a staircase. Everything was the same grey cement except for the faded white doors and the black gaping holes of the windows, most of which were covered in blackout shades.

Eggy's flat was three stories up. The Unwin family had lived there since he was too young to remember anything else. Back when they first moved in, it had been Eggsy and his Mum and Dad. These days it was him, his Mum, her waste of space husband Dean, and Eggsy's little sister Daisy.

He made his way up the stairs, carefully. The high cement walls around the staircase helped cut down on wind, but it meant that snow was piling up fast. Between the snowdrifts, and the clouds that were blocking most of the moonlight it was impossible to see if there was ice underneath. His luck, he'd trip and end up busting his face open.

He'd spent all last night nursing Daisy through a screaming fit, burgling houses with Dean this morning, babysitting Daisy again when Mum got high, and then going out half the tonight picking up Johns until the weather drove them all away. A trip to the A&E sounded like a great way to finish the day.

He was concentrating so hard on keeping on his feet that he's almost at of their flat before the screaming registered. He froze. Then the words registered.

"Dean- Dean please!"

He ran, when his started to slip he used the momentum to slam into the flat's door. Things went quiet inside. He fumbled for his keys. The door knob jammed. The screaming started up again. Accompanied by Dean's yelling.

"She's just a baby!" Mum wailed.

Eggsy stopped fighting the lock and reared back. The door slammed open with a single kick. The remains of the lock dangled from the door jamb.

Mum was naked, except for a bed sheet she was gripping in one hand. She had hold of Dean with her other hand, dragging at his arm, trying to get him to let go of Daisy.

Dean was in just his boxers, his whole face is red, his teeth bared. They were both staring at Eggsy, frozen in place by their surprise.

Daisy hung limply in Dean's grasp. He had her at arms length, doing nothing to support her neck. Her head hung at an unnatural angle.

The sight of her, just hanging there made everything else fade away.

Eggsy dove for Dean, landing a punch on Dean's chin. When Dean jerked back, his grip weakening, Eggsy wrapped his other hand around Daisy's belly and pulled her into the crook of his arm.

The panic driven tunnel vision eased at the feel of her, still warm and breathing. Even if she's not moving. Keeping an eye on where Dean clung the table beside the couch to stay upright.

Eggsy crouched to put Daisy in Mum's arms.

For a long moment, while he waited for Mum to take Daisy and Dean was lumbering back to his feet, Eggsy was certain that Dean would get to him, before Daisy was safe.

Daisy's weight lifted from his arms, and he was springing back. Dean's fist slammed through the air where Eggsy's head had just been. Mum let out a startled yelp. God, she needed to run. What if Dean attacked her instead of Eggsy?

Dean kept punching, backing Eggsy towards the door. The whites were showing all around Dean's eyes and his face was getting reader by the second.

If Eggsy couldn't turn the tide of this fight, they were all dead. He forced himself to stop backing away, to ignore the instinct to escape. He'd made it through six months of Marine training, he could do this. He had people he needed to protect.

Dean's fist slammed into his cheek hard enough to make his ears ring. Pain exploded across that entire side of his head and neck. Eggsy pushed through it and landed a series of punches on Dean's ribs and belly.

Dean bellowed but backed off. His eyes skittered around the room. If Dean was smart, he'd retreat and grab a weapon. Mum was still naked, Daisy unconscious, Eggsy wouldn't be able to get them out of the flat in the few seconds it would take Dean to grab one of the knives he had stashed in the apartment.

"What's wrong you fat, fucking pig? Afraid of someone that fights back?" Eggsy shouted trying to draw his attention back to him, praying it would work.

It did.

Dean charged, and Eggsy fell back into the stance he'd learned in the Marines. He used Dean's own momentum to flip him and then followed up with a kick to Dean's head.

Dean didn't get up again. The adrenaline drained out of Eggsy. He fell to his knees beside Dean's body, heaving for air. If Eggsy couldn’t see Dean's chest moving, he’d have thought the bastard was dead.

He’d have deserved it, but Eggsy didn’t have time to hide a body. He needed to focus on getting Mum and Daisy somewhere safe.

Forcing himself back to his feet he lurched over to to Mum. She looked a mess, her blond hair tangled in a birds nest. A bruise was darkening on her cheek. Others littered her arms. One shaped like a hand covered the front part of her throat.

She was curled up in the same spot on the floor she'd fallen when Eggsy had punched him. The sheet puddled around her and she held Daisy tight against her chest.

“Come on mum, when he wakes up he’ll be right pissed.” Crouching down, he took Daisy from her. "We still have time to get to the shelter, before the snow gets too hard.”

“Right, right.” She nodded. A slow bobbing movement, up and down, over and over. She didn’t try to get up, just kept staring ahead.

“Mum, did you take more heroin after I left?”

“I- I needed it. Dean was pissed and Daisy wouldn’t stop crying.” She looked back at him then, he gaze becoming a little less vague. “I don’t need a lecture, Eggsy.”

Too bad. “Mum you know you’re supposed to wait til I get back before you take some. That way somebody is still able to look after Daisy.”

“I’m not a child, Eggsy.” She staggered her feet.

Eggsy stood up as well, Daisy still safe in his arms. “I know you aren’t, but we have to do this together.”

“Together. If we were in this together, you wouldn't have attacked Dean.” She marched over to the kitchen, and started slamming the cabinet doors, pulling out granola bars and biscuits. “Things only get worse, when you try to change them Eggsy. I wish you would just learn to accept that some things can’t change.”

“That isn't true.” He looked back at Dean, making sure he still wasn’t moving. Then he followed her into the kitchen. “If we could just get some money together, get out for good, then Daisy would be safe.”

Slamming a can down, she spun to glare at him. “That’s what your father thought, running off to join the Special forces. Then you run off to the marines and leave me alone. And now look at us,” She waved her hand towards Dean. “You hit him and he’s going to have to put you back in your place.”

“He was hurting Daisy, Mum. She’s still not waking up.” Why was she still arguing that things needed to stay the same after tonight? Even high as she was?

“And if you’d just let me distract him, we could have gone to the clinic once he was asleep. Now what are we supposed to do? You think the shelter is gonna have someone to look after her?”

“I-,” he trailed off. It had seemed like the right decision. The only decision. He’d seen Dean hurting Daisy — like he’d hurt Eggsy so many times before — and he hadn't been able to think about anything but stopping him. “I don’t know.”

“Put her in the cot, and go get your things together.” Mum said.  
The sick feeling in his chest was familiar, from all the other times Mum had yelled at him for defending himself in school, or loosing his temper and starting a row with one of Dean’s thugs. He could practically hear her old admonishment. ‘If you just didn’t react, they wouldn’t hurt you.’

He put Daisy down in the cot and went to pack some close for the both of them.

It only took a few minutes to shove a couple handfuls of nappies and baby clothes into a changing bag before he moved on to packing his own backpack. He grabbed some trackies, and a jumper, before trading his trainers for the boots he’d kept from boot camp. They’d be better for the snow.

The stash of money he kept taped to the bottom of his dresser drawer went into his left boot before he tied it up the rest of the way. He still had the money he’d got from street walking in his pocket. That should be enough to get a cab to the shelter. He'd had to walk the last half mile the buses had stopped running due to the weather, and the shelter was too far out for the tube.

Zipping the backpack up, he slung it over one shoulder, and the diaper bag over the other. He looked over the room one more time, Dean would probably wreck it all while they were gone. He reached up to feel the lump of the medallion under his shirt and shifted till he could feel the notes against his ankle. There wasn’t anything else he couldn’t find a way to replace.

#

Mum was sitting at the kitchen table waiting for him, still only wrapped in a sheet. Daisy was back in her lap, still wearing nothing but a diaper. "Mum, you need to get dressed. I'll take care of Daisy."

She jerked Daisy away before he could touch her. "I’m going to stay here with Daisy, Eggsy. It’ll be better, I can get Dean to calm down and then once I know it's safe you can come back."

Eggsy dropped the bags he was carrying and grabbed her by the shoulders. “Mum, please. He’ll hurt you.”

She met his eyes. Her pupils were starting to shrink back down and there was a light sheen of sweat coating her forehead and darkening her frizzy blond hair. “He won’t. He just had a bad day, and the noise was too much. Once he wakes up and realises what he did, he’ll be sorry.”

“So what if he is sorry?” Being sorry had never stopped him before. “How long until things get to be too much again? It’s not safe.”

Mum opened her mouth, probably to say the same shit, but then Dean groaned. They both froze, barely breathing. But he didn't make any more noise.

“He’s waking up, Mum. We need to go now. I've got clothes for Daisy in her changing bag, and you can through something on quick. They'll have changes of clothes at the shelter.” He tugged at her, trying to get her to stand.

Reaching up, she patted his cheek. “No Eggsy. I already told you. We aren't going. If we just wait, things will go back to being okay. Once he calms down and needs you for another job, you can come back. Then you’ll apologise and maybe give him some of that money you’ve been making on the side and everything will be just fine.”

He tried one more time to lift her, and he got her to her feet.

Only for her to sit right back down. “You go on now, me and Daisy will see you once things calm down. Or you can visit while Dean's out.”

Dean groaned again and started to twitch.

Eggsy looked from him to Mum again, trying to find a way out. He could do what she asked, trust things were going to get better this time. But he’d only left Daisy with her for one night, and now she was hurt.

He couldn’t.

“I’m sorry, Mum,” He leaned down as if to kiss her cheek and then grabbed Daisy from her, pressing her limp body against his chest.

“Eggsy!” Mum pushed herself up using the table, already reaching towards Daisy, and he just couldn’t.  
He stepped back, using one arm to grab the two bags from the floor, and ran.

Mum’s screams followed him, as he fled the flat and retreated into the raging snow storm.

#

The wind whipped the snow around them as he made the way down the stairs. Daisy was still only in a nappy. So stupid, what had he been thinking.

The image of Daisy hanging limp in Dean’s grasp flashed through his mind. No, he was making the right decision. Once he was somewhere safe he'd getting into warm clothes and her carrier. For now, he concentrated on getting down the concrete stairs and down to the street without falling. He needed to get out of the Estate before Mum caught them or Dean woke up.

Once he was a few blocks away from the Estate, he started looking for somewhere he could rest while he got Daisy into something warm. He found an alley that was barely wider than the dumpster that had been jammed into it. Once he edged passed the dumpster he had some shelter from the wind and snow and it would be hard for anybody to see them. That didn't stop him from expecting Dean to pop up at any moment. He kept checking the mouth of the alley for signs that he was being followed. But there was nothing but the snow.

Rummaging in the changing bag found a hat along with some thick footie pyjamas. Once she was as dressed as he could get her, he wrapped her in one of his trackies and tucking her into the carrier, that he'd strapped to his chest.

Then he could wrap the trackie he was wearing around her and the carrier and zip it closed. To give her a little more protection from the cold. He checked one more time, to make sure nobody was waiting for him at the mouth of the alley, before going back out onto the sidewalk.

Within minutes of starting towards the centre of town, he started to lose track of time. There was just him, the faded streetlights, and the snow. Not even the sound of his footsteps could be heard over the roaring of the wind. He thought he saw the shadows of a few people walking ahead of him or on the other side of the road. It was impossible to be sure when they were nothing but dark shadows.

The snow reflected the few, flickering street lights and turned them into a glittering vortex. Occasional a car crawled past, headlights turned all the way up till they blinded him worse than the flickering snow.

Snow got down the collar of Eggsy's jacket and soaked through the fabric until it stopped providing protection from the biting wind and just added to the weight he was carrying. The backpack and changing bag dragged at his shoulders.

The clumping snow from earlier in the night had turned into a half snow, half rain that turned everything it settled on into an ice slick.

The only thing that kept him going was the feel of Daisy, still against this chest. She hadn't moved since he'd first got her away from Dean. He ignored the urge to turn back, go tie Dean up in the flat's loo and waited for the storm to pass before making a run for it. Mum would call the filth if he tried it if she didn't just let Dean out herself.

Wheezing, he took shelter against the side of a building. The alleyway pointing away from the wind. His feet were starting to go numb and his fingers burnt. If he stopped for too long, the frostbite and hypothermia would get him. But not before it got Daisy.

His grip spasmed around the lump of her, under his jacket. No, he could do this. The domestic violence shelter was on the far edge of London. He was betting at least a few cab drivers had decided to run while the cab company had them logged out as off the clock. They got the best fares and got to keep all the profit when there was bad weather.

He just had to get to the shopping district, where the cabs would be waiting to take advantage of the idiot tourists, and they'd be home free. He could do this. He pushed away from the wall and braced for the wind. Leaning into it, he let it do most of the work of keeping him upright. One foot in front of the other.

#

The shelter was nondescript. A row home near the end of a whole street of other homes that only differed in what bland colour they’d been painted. Each one had a patch of grass in front and pavement up the side for the cars. Street lights lined the drive, their light barely cutting through the dark and snow.

He climbed the stairs, careful of any ice patches he couldn’t see in the dim light. The door was the only thing unusual about the house, painted a cheery red. He pressed the buzzer, resisting the urge to lean on it. He pressed it a few more times, before he could make out the soft thump of feet, and the light above the door turned on.

There was a few moments wait while whoever was inside got a good look at him. Then the door creaked open. Elizabeth had been running this shelter since Eggsy had been a been an anklebiter, back before Mum had married Dean.

She’d aged some in that time, gone grey and tired, but she still had the same unflappable air. “Eggsy Unwin, what are you doing at my door at three bloody clock in the morning in the middle of a snow storm?”

“Sorry Elizabeth, got into a guff with Dean.”

Her snort heavily implied that was obvious, but she stepped aside and let him into the warm hallway. Everything in site of the door was as bland as the house’s outside. “Where’s your mum, then?”

Eggsy shifted, his arm instinctively coming up to wrap around the lump of Daisy in her carrier. “She thinks she can reason with Dean, but Daisy was hurt and didn’t I trust the clinic not to grass to Dean if I took her there.” Or to call the filth to report a suspected kidnapping.

Her mouth pinched, but if she had any comments to make she kept them to herself as she focused on the task at hand. “I’ve got four families staying with me just now. But it should be alright. You know the rules.”

He did. Don’t ask for names or any details that would let you know who people were. If you saw anybody hanging around the building you told Elizabeth, and you did your best to never be visible from the outside of the house just in case somebody’s abusive ex was lurking.

“I’ve got a sleeping nook upstairs. It’s not much, but it’ll due for tonight.” She started the slow climb up the stairs and he followed.

They passed a handful of closed doors on the upper floor before stopping at the corner of the house that housed the stairs to the attic. There had been an under-stairs cupboard the last time Eggsy had come. Now it held a mattress cut down to fit, a pile of pillows, and a sheet on a string that could be pulled across the space to provide privacy.

It was the best thing he’d seen all night. He collapsed onto the mattress, the bags falling to the side, and stifled a big yawn. Unzipping his hoodie, he checked on Daisy, “Do you have a doc or anything that you can contact? Daisy’s not woken up since Dean got to her.”

Elizabeth tutted and craned forward to catch sight of Daisy’s face where it was pressed against Eggsy’s chest. There was no sign of bruising but her eyes were closed and her nose had been reddened by the cold even with the efforts Eggsy had taken to shelter her.

“Poor mite, having to deal with a bastard like that. I’ll call around in the morning and see who can come out here without drawing attention. You two just get some rest for now.”

She left them then. He waited until he couldn’t hear the sound of her slippered feet before unstrapping Daisy from his chest and laying her at the head of the bed and laying down himself. One hand resting on her chest, letting the feel of her breathing sooth him into exhausted sleep.

#

He woke up when Elizabeth pulled back the curtain. There was only a second before she shook his arm to wake him up. That was thankfully enough time that he could brace and didn’t lash out on instinct.

She looked pale, eyes huge in her face, and her hair at all angles like she’d just woken up. “There’s a Child Abduction alert out. I just got the text on my phone. It’s you and Daisy!”

That was enough to jerk him upright. “What?”

“They’re saying you beat your Stepfather and kidnapped her. I know what Dean is like, but that kind of claim. And you without your, Mum-” She trailed off, her eyes skittering around the hall outside of the sleeping nook. “The other families probably got the alert too, one of them might call in an anonymous tip. Think I don’t know what is going on.”

Well fuck. Typical Dean getting the filth involved to do his dirty work when he’d have killed anybody for grassing on him. He reached out and got Daisy pulled against his chest. She still wasn’t moving.

How were they supposed to get a doctor when there was an Alert out for them? “What do you want to do?”

“I’ll move you to my room for now. You can stay there tonight. Nobody will go in.”

He nodded, already hooking an arm through the straps for his bags. “Can you grab the carrier?”

“Right,” She slung it over her shoulder before starting to straighten the bed. After a minute there was no sign they’d ever been there.

Elizabeth’s room was at the far end of the house, on the first floor. Only a room back from the door. It was covered in dozens of pictures of different families, books littered every flat surface except the bed which was covered in multiple blankets instead. “You two can sleep there. I’ll go out to the couch. It’s not unusual for me to sleep out there when I have the insomnia.”

“Thank you.” He put Daisy on the bed, already moving the pillows so they would keep her from rolling off the bed. Even though he knew that was a pointless concern when she wasn’t even waking up. “What should we do about the doctor?”

“I’ll call in the morning. I don’t dare have him come here that will make the other people suspicious. But if you can get across town to him without getting picked up.” The sentence trailed off. He probably couldn’t get across town on his own without being seen. “Is there anybody else I can call for you? Your mum’s family? Or someone who could get her to come here. They’ll have a hard time proving child abduction if one of her parents is involved.”

There wasn’t anybody else. If Mum had family, she’d long since lost touch between Dean and the drugs. He reached up to rub at the lump of the medallion under his shirt. If he called them, Mum would kill him. But Daisy wasn’t waking up, and what was his life compared to hers. “Maybe, I have someone I can try.”

The relief on her face was palpable. She seemed to sag even as a small smile lifted the corner of her mouth. “I’m sure it will work out. I know Dean Baker is an ass, and I’ve never met him. I’m sure any of your family who has met him will know he’s making the whole kidnap thing up.”

Only he wasn’t actually making it up. He just wasn’t admitting that he’d brought the beating and kidnap on himself.“Thanks Elizabeth.”

“Of course, dear.” She headed for the door, her slippered feet padding softly against the rug. “You two get some sleep, and then I’ll come in the morning and help you sneak out. Then you can find yourself somewhere to call your family and get the poppet some help.”

Eggsy waited until the door closed before slumping back onto the bed and pulling the medallion out. God, let this work. If it didn’t he and Daisy were screwed.

Elizabeth snuck them out a few hours after the sun came up and the snow stopped. Everybody else was at breakfast. He could hear the soft white noise of conversation and the clinking of silverware and dishes as he followed her down the hall and out of the back door.

The back yard was fenced in, with a tall, wooden fence that rose up above Eggsy’s head. It was a large space for a London house, with a shed at the back corner. A gate led to the side of the house where he’d seen the car the night before. The ground was still blanketed in a few inches of snow. It sparkled in the weak, morning light. There were no footprints, and the only parts of the yard that was starting to melt was around the cement patio they were standing on.

Elizabeth kept flicking looks over her shoulder. Despite the fact that everyone was jammed in like sardines, the people who stayed here valued each other's privacy. Eggsy didn't see anybody looking at them from the part of the hall he can see over her shoulder and he wasn’t expecting anyone to come looking for Elizabeth just because she was late to breakfast.

"I'm sorry I can't let you stay, but the shelter. With Michelle not coming with you." She didn’t repeat their earlier discussion.

“I understand." He really did. A suspected Child nabber staying at the shelter could bring all kinds of bad attention. The Battered Women and Children's rescue organization that ran this shelter dealt with that kind of legal battle regularly. But that was between two parents with equal rights to the child, not a brother who didn’t even share blood with the baby vs both parents.

Just because Elizabeth knew him that didn't mean the other women staying at the shelter wouldn't call the Filth. And that would get everybody caught.

He laid a comforting hand on her arm, drawing her attention back to him and off the hall behind her. "You let me spend the night and snuck me out so nobody could call the filth. You did more than most would."

She cast one more look over her shoulder before stepping out onto the patio and easing the door shut behind her. She held her hand out a couple crumpled bills in the palm. “I know we're not supposed to give money out, but just so you can catch a cab back to the city."

He wanted to kick up a fuss about having to wait to see a doctor until he could find a cab. He was fucking terrified, the ticking clock of Daisy’s continued unconscious made him want to fight, to scream until Elizabeth let them stay and found a Doctor for Daisy. But he wasn't Dean. He wasn't going to hurt people until he got his way. “Thanks again for the help.”

He turned away from her and stomped over to the gate. The sound of his boots squeaking in the snow and the crunch of ice as he broke the top layer made it hard to pick up the sound of her going back inside and the door closing, but when he turned to check before opening the gate, the yard was empty.

And except for his footprints in the snow there was no sign he’d ever been there.

#

The air biting cold, but still better than the night before. With the snow stopped, and the winds calmed down, Eggsy didn’t have to worry about rushing to find a cab.

Instead, he headed towards the park about a half mile from the shelter. He'd played there a few times as a kid and there was a pay-phone he could use to call the number on the back of the medallion. If that didn’t work he’d call a cab company after and see about making his way out of the city.  
Jamal’s sister lived in one of the towns outside of London, and Jamal would vouch that Eggsy wasn’t a child nabber. It wouldn’t be ideal, but it would at least give him and Daisy somewhere to hide and hopefully a chance to see a small town doc, that wouldn’t ask too many questions.

The neighbourhood was quiet in the early morning, but he saw the occasional woman or man heading to their car to start their day at work. An older lady, probably only a few years younger than Elizabeth stared as he walked past her house. He didn’t dare look back, but he could feel her looking at him until he turned the corner and was out of sight. He picked up his pace, not quite willing to run and possibly draw more attention to himself.

Maybe she’d just been looking at the strange chav that had shown up in her posh neighbourhood. His luck, she’d rushed right back into the house once he was out of sight to call in a tip to the filth.

He strained to hear the sound of sirens as he jogged the last quarter mile to the park, not quite catching a full breath until he was safely in among the trees.

He wrapped and arm around Daisy in the carrier and crouched up against the bulk of a tree, peeking around it to see if anybody had followed. The street was empty. He wished that was enough to keep his paranoia at bay.

After a few minutes of nothing but bird song and the smell of snow and trees he forced himself to move. The park was a small one mostly green space and park benches, with a sad, half rusted set of swings and a slide on one side, and a public phone box over by the bus stop sign.

He made his way there, never letting go of the tight hold on Daisy’s carrier.

#

"Oxford's not brogues." He shouted into the pay phone in a panic. Oh God, please don't let this have all been some kinda sick joke by one of his mom's old boyfriends. A god damned shop help line, like that was even really a thing these days. And he’d already spilled his freaking guts to her about Daisy. His luck she’d call the police.

He held his breath, expecting to hear the click of the lady hanging up the phone at any second. She was going to hang up, and he'd be standing here in the park with Daisy who still hadn’t woken up, and if that lady really had recognised him he’d have the coppers here in a couple minutes.

"Your complaint has been logged. A member of our support team will be contacted and you will receive a call from them momentarily. I hope we have not lost you as a loyal customer." She said it all in one breath, not giving Eggsy a chance to interject. The line clicked off and there was just the dial tone.

He slid to the bottom of the phone booth. The glass was cold even through his jacket, but better than going outside and sitting in the snow. God, that had sounded like some sort of confirmation of the code words he'd had to struggle to dredge up from his memory. But what if it hadn't been? What if she had just been trying to get the crazy man talking about shoes off of the phone?

Did he dare call back, or should he just go now? He curled him self tighter around Daisy. He wanted to look at her, see if she was getting any better, but he didn’t dare open the hoodie and expose her to the cold.

He could still take her to the clinic, hope he found a nurse that wouldn’t call the filth. But the chances of that were slim. If he got caught, they would take her from him and she'd end up right back home with Dean, only without Eggsy around to protect her.

That was a death sentence now that they knew that Dean wasn't above attacking her. She might die because he had her out here in the cold with him, instead of getting looked after by doctors. Might was still better than a sure thing.

He'd wait here for a little while. Just to be sure the help desk lady had been yanking his chain and then he’d call a cab and try to make it Jamal’s sister. Maybe Eggsy's shit luck would hold this time.

He had fallen into a light doze, by the time the phone started to ring. He lunged up, grabbing the receiver in a desperate attempt to keep from missing the call. It slipped through his grasp and jerked to a stop at the end of its cord. He could hear the same calm, measured voice from the help desk talking as he got hold of the phone and pressed it to his ear. “Mr. Unwin? Mr. Unwin are you there.”

“I’m here, I’m here.” He panted out, hand gripping the receiver convulsively.

“Again, I am sorry for the delay in handling your complaint, Mr. Unwin. We had to check our records to make sure that you were the proper party to discuss this matter with. Now that, we have been assured of your identity, a member of our team has been dispatched to your current location. You indicated that you were in need of medical attention?”

He hadn’t told them where he was, but then again this was feeling more and more like some bloody spy thriller, all secret code phrases and shit. “Yeah, somebody who knows how to help babies.”

“Very good. I’m afraid we don’t have anyone on staff that has experience in that matter, but our team member will take you somewhere where you can get help. I need you to go out to the park entrance and wait there for a black cab. A gentleman named Harry Hart will meet you there, and he will get you to a hospital. If Mr. Baker comes, Mr. Hart will make sure that he does not pose a threat to you or your sister.”

“O-okay.” He could do this. Just leave the park and get picked up. Should he tell her, he though he’d been recognised? Group like this probably already knew he was a fugitive — but what if they didn’t?

What if when they found out they took Daisy away and left him for the filth?” His breath started to come too quickly.

“Mr. Unwin --- Mr. Unwin can you hear me?” He gasped out a breath as it registered that the help desk lady had been calling his name.

“Yeah, sorry...I’m still here.”  
“Of course, I am going to hang up now, and then you are going to walk to the park entrance. Everything will be taken care of from there. I promise. Mr. Hart is only a few minutes away.” There was a click, and then the dial tone.

He stood there listening to it for a long minute before he could force himself to hang up and leave the shelter of the phone booth. The wind cut into him as he made his way back through the trees to the road outside the park. God he hoped Hart was there.

Only a few minutes after he reached the street, a cab pulled up.

It was a posh thing all perfectly polished chrome and shiny black paint. A man who’s whole outfit screamed money, climbed out. Big, blond, and older than Eggsy was expecting. He looked enough like the vague memories Eggsy had of the man who came to tell them Dad had died that Eggsy thought they might be the same person.

He came up to where Eggsy was standing, casual as you like. Acting like he picked up strange blokes in neighbourhood parks all the time. “Why don’t we get you and your sister, Daisy into the cab and then we can see that she is taken proper care of.”

“Right,” As Eggsy stepped forward the sound of sirens picked up in the distance. Well fuck. Eggsy glanced around trying to get a feel for where they were coming from. But they seemed to be coming from all over and getting louder every second. He glared at Hart accusingly. Had he brought them here?

Hart didn't seem to notice Eggsy's glare. He had a pinched look on his face, like the noise was annoying him and after a moment he went back over to the cab and spoke to the cabbie.

Eggsy stayed where he was. He wanted to run, but he didn't have anywhere to go.

Hart slammed a fist into the cab's side, making Eggsy jump, before he stomped over to Eggsy. Forcing

Eggsy to take a few, hurried steps back to keep out of arm's reach.

Thankfully, Hart stayed where he was. “I’m sorry Eggsy, it appears that there is no safe escape route at present.”

How the fuck did he know that. “Yeah, and why am I supposed to believe you didn’t call them in yourself?”

“You have no reason to believe I wouldn’t, but I assure you that I didn't call them here. And I will get you released, if you can just stay calm.” He held his hands out. “If you can give me, your sister. Before they get here. I would feel better if she was out of the way of harm.”

Right, he was just going to hand her over to a man he vaguely recognised from ten years ago. He stepped back, preparing to run, when sirens started up from behind him as well. Fuck!

He unzipped his hoodie, carefully pulling Daisy out of her carrier and held her out to Hart. Please let this be the right decision.

Hart barely had her in his arms before police cars swarm the street all around them. Constables hop out already screaming for him to put his hands above his head and release the girl. Hart gave them and unimpressed look, but raised the hand he wasn’t using to hold Daisy.

Two constables rushed forward to put cuffs on Eggsy and drag him towards a police car. He saw Hart deep in conversation with an Inspector as they pulled away, Daisy still in his arms.

Please, please let everything work out.

#

Eggsy had been tossed into police interrogation rooms near a half dozen times in total. Mostly for petty theft and the occasional suspected housebreak. A time or two for solicitation. Nothing as serious as Kidnap.

The Inspectors who came to talk to him were hard face and angry instead of the weary brand of exhausted that he is used to. Around the Estate all the Inspectors know they could bust a kid for a dime bag of weed or a night walking the streets, but nothing would ever come of it. If a kid got sent to prison, they'd be out and committing crimes again soon enough. And if the charge was something like harassment, good luck getting the victim to press charges or be a witness. Here they still seemed to think there was a point to their job.

Eggsy wasn't sure he agreed. Since he didn't actually talk as they try to interrogate him. Demanding to know why he'd attack his sister, and his step dad, and why he'd kidnap a little girl.

He waited them out, mouth shut and plastic chair digging into his legs. He knew how to handle the fucking filth, even this hard nosed bunch.

Worry gnawed at him. What if Hart didn't keep his word? What if they're meeting and Hart’s promise to look after Eggsy had all been some kind of elaborate trick, and the help line from the medallion had just called the Filth themselves, and used the existence of someone who could help to get Daisy away from him?

As the hours ticked by that worry grew bigger. The shift changed and a whole new line of angry cops came to try and get a confession. Still no sign of Hart

After the second shift gave up, he tried to sleep, leaning over the hard plastic table, his hands still cuffed. He hadn't gotten much sleep between the late night street walking and then running all over London.

He jolted awake when the room’s door opened. A constable came in, not one of the Inspectors that had been in before. This one looked young, all dressed up in uniform. A big fella with balding hair, dark-rimmed glasses, and a stubborn jaw followed the filth in. His expression was impossible to read as he watched the officer uncuff Eggsy from the table and guide him out into the hall.

Their strange procession kept moving until they reached the big glassed in entrance to the police station. Mum was standing there, done up in one of her nicer outfits, the kind she used to wear to meet with Eggsy’s teachers. If the balding man's face didn't show anything her's is all kinds of angry.

He hadn't seen her this pissed since he was a kid and got sent hope for fighting a bully that had been picking on some other kids. She’d never liked it when he did something as stupid as try to sacrifice himself. He thought it reminded her too much of what had happened to Dad. "Hi Mum."

"Eggsy She turned away and went back to filling out a paper on the counter in front of her. The constable who was manning the front desk looked at the one holding on to Eggsy and he let go, sending a baleful look at Eggsy and the constable at the desk both before stomping off.

“Thank you for coming in, Mrs. Baker. I hope you understand the seriousness of filing a false kidnap charge just because you think it's too early to file a missing persons report.” The constable said after a long silent moment.

Mum nodded. "Of course, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have let Dean get me so worried. Just because of the snow storm. "

She smiled her best smile at the constable. The same smile she used to get the social workers to back off. There wasn't a thing about her, to show that she'd been high as a kite last night. If this wasn’t a familiar transformation, Eggsy would be tempted to think he’d made the whole thing up. Mum and the constable share a little more small talk as she finishes up the forms, then they are heading for the door.

Eggsy managed to keep quiet until they are though the station doors and out on the wide stone steps that lead to the sidewalk. He barely opened his mouth to demand answers before Mum sent one sharp look over her shoulder at him and the urge to do anything that might piss her off further made his mouth snap shut, jaw tensing. He was so busy watching her it takes him a minute to notice the shiny black cab waiting at the bottom of the steps.

It was identical to the one Hart had arrived in back at the park. No wonder Mum was pissed. The people that she hated the most in the world — the ones she blamed for killing his Dad — had come to her and made her withdraw the Kidnap charges.

She was going to rip him a new one as soon as they got home. She turned sharply once they reach the cab, her eyes going past Eggsy, to the bald bloke who was still tailing him. "I'd like a few words alone with my son."

"Of course, I'll be in the cab when you are ready." He walked passed Eggsy, looking even bigger compared to Mum's tiny frame. And then he climbed inside the cab and slammed the door behind him.  
Mum hand whipped up out, slapped him across the cheek Dean had already bruised. "Eggsy Unwin, how dare you take Daisy from me and give her to those bastards. The same ones who killed your father."

"I didn’t-," he started.

She stepped into his space. The fragility he was so used to seeing in her seemed to melt away and she was the same ferocious force of nature than had seen him through his early childhood. "You didn't what? Have a choice? I damn well gave you a choice when I told you to leave Daisy with me and go take a break from Dean. And now look at you."

She waved a hand at the police station behind him. "In lockup for Kidnap. Calling in favours from the toffs that sacrificed your Dad to save their own skin."

His shoes are suddenly interesting. “I’m sorry, Mum.”

“You’re always sorry, but you never seem to realise that I’m your mother and sometimes I know best. Now we are going to go get Daisy and I’ll take her home. You can stay with these bastards if you want, but you damn sure aren’t coming home for a few weeks until Dean calms down.” She turned then and climbed into the cab.

She left the door open. It looked like a gaping mouth, waiting to swallow him up. All this fuss, and he hadn’t even gotten Daisy somewhere safe. He stepped back, eyes scanning the area looking for bus stops. He should just go, run and let Mum handle things. No matter the feeling of dread that sunk into his bones at the very idea.

The bald man stepped out of the cab, before he could run, closing the door behind him. “Why don’t we go for a walk. There are a few things we need to talk about.”

“Yeah, I think we’re done.” Eggsy replied. Turning to walk away.  
He got yanked back when the man grabbed a handful of his hoodie. “And I said we had things to discuss.” He still didn’t sound angry, but there was a firmness in his tone that made Eggsy think he wasn’t going to get away.

“Fine.” Wouldn’t hurt to have a talk before he went to find a bus stop.

#

They walked for a few minutes before the man finally started talking. “My name is Merlin, and I helped train your father when he was a young man. You look a great deal like him.”

That wasn’t the opening Eggsy had been expecting even if he should have been. "You knew my dad?"

"A good man, and noble one. He saved my life. I'm afraid we rather hashed up repaying the debt."

That was one way of putting it. Eggsy forced down the urge to snap at him. He was trying to apologize even if he was doing a shit job.

He continued. "I should have kept an eye on matters rather than letting Harry handle things the old fashioned way,"

"So why didn't you?"

Merlin shrugged. "Because it wasn’t my place to interfere with Harry’s responsibilities."

That seemed like a fancy way to go around his elbow to say he'd expected somebody else to do the job.

But that wasn’t the important part of the conversation. "So, my dad saved your life?"

"Mine and Harry's. Harry tends to take the blame for the matter onto his shoulders. But I was your father's teacher. If I'd done my job better the matter would have been settled long before anyone had to make a sacrifice."

“So why didn’t you teach him better?” Eggsy asked. Talking to one of the people his dad had risked his life to save, Mum’s claims that they had thrown his life away on purpose fell flat.

“Because no matter how hard we train people. Sometimes the other person gets lucky or desperate enough to do something illogical. And I have yet to find a way to teach people to expect that kind of fanaticism.”

That, hadn’t been what Eggsy had been expecting. Maybe some crap about dying for your country or being the better man. People didn’t usually admit that they had no control over things.

Merlin stopped them, when they reached the end of the sidewalk, instead of continuing across the road. “But while your father’s actions might have led us here, they have little to do with the matter at hand. You called in the favour to see yourself and your sister to somewhere safe, and I am here to see that happens.”

Eggsy wanted to argue the point, this whole mess led back to the decision his Dad had made to sacrifice his life for his fellow soldiers instead of coming back to Mum, but arguing wouldn’t help.

“Mum says she’ll take Daisy back with her, and I guess if you can get me set up in a hotel for a couple weeks until things calm down.”

A deep frown dug a furrow between Merlin’s eyebrows. “That is not a good plan.”

“It’s what Mum thinks is best.” And she was pissed enough as it was. If he got her much angrier, she’d never let him come back home.

“I see.” Merlin’s tone heavily implied he didn’t. “I think it would be best if I spoke to Ms. Baker before we take any further steps.”

With that he strode off towards the cab. Eggsy scrambled after him. Well fuck. This was just going to piss Mum off more.

Merlin got into the cab before Eggsy could catch up to stop him. Eggsy had no choice but to follow him in.

It was a nice cab, two bench seats facing each other with a partition blocking them from the driver. Mum was sitting in the middle of the seat that backed up to the partition, leaving Eggsy stuck sitting by Merlin in the seat opposite.

He’d barely gotten inside when the cab started moving, and he had to yank the door closed before it got knocked off by a street lamp.

A tinny voice echoed though the cab. “Where to?”

“Mrs. Baker’s home.” Merlin replied.

As expected, Mum didn’t react well. She leaned forward in her seat until she was in Merlin’s personal space. “You aren’t going to drop me back home, now you are done with me. You are taking me to my daughter.”

“I would be happy too, Mrs Baker, if you will agree to stay with her at the hospital or at one of our safe houses until she is considered in stable condition.” If Merlin noticed her attempts to intimidate him, he didn’t show it.

“I don’t need you telling me how to raise my daughter. Trying to convince Eggsy that she’s more hurt than she is so you can get your claws into him.”

“Mum-” He reached for her, but she shrugged his touch off of his arm.

Her eyes were still glued to Merlin’s. “I don’t care if he called you in, I’m still her mum. I’ll take her to the clinic to get looked after, but I’m not gonna trust you to look after her right.”

“I’m sorry Mrs. Baker, but that won’t be possible. I don’t think you understand the severity of the situation. She’s in ICU and will be for weeks if not months.”

“You’re lying, Dean said she was fine. He wouldn’t hurt her like that. Eggsy was just-”

Merlin cut in, “Mr. Baker lied to you. You will either agree to tell Mr. Baker nothing about where Daisy is being kept, or I won’t tell you where she is.”

Mum’s mouth opened and closed as she seemed to scramble for something to say to that pronouncement. Eggsy didn’t know what to say either. He hadn’t expected Merlin to go so far, in attempting to repay the favour. Part of him wanted to protest, to tell Merlin that he couldn’t treat Mum that way. Part of him still remembered the desperate urge to get Daisy somewhere safe that had made him willing to take Daisy in the first place.

Finally, Mum seemed to decide what she wanted to say. “And if I charge you with kidnap?”

“The charges won’t stick. Particularly now that you swore that you had falsely accused Eggsy of kidnap."

The rest of the trip back to the Estate was silent. Mum opened her mouth a few times to say something, start some argument that would help her convince Merlin to let her have Daisy. Every time she wilted under Merlin’s unimpressed gaze.

When the cab pulled up in front of the estate, Merlin handed mum a card. Plain white with black text stamped on it. “My number. If you decide you want to help in protecting Daisy from your husband.”

“Fuck you,” was all she said as she climbed out of the cab.

She didn’t even look at Eggsy as she went. He watched her in the side-view mirror as they pulled away.

She stayed on the sidewalk glaring after the cab. Watching as she slowly got smaller and then disappear as they turned a corner, Eggsy felt a pit open up in his stomach.

When he’d taken Daisy last night it had been an impulse decision. Desperation had made it easy to prioritise Daisy over Mum. This, just leaving her there, when they could have brought her with them just felt wrong.

He looked at Merlin out of the corner of his eye. There was no sign of emotion on his face. If he felt the slightest bit bad about leaving Mum to deal with Dean alone, he didn’t show it.

“We could have figured something else out.” Was the closest thing to a reprimand that Eggsy could force himself to say.

“Perhaps,” Merlin agreed, “But I will have a few people watching over her. And if she changes her mind, she only has to call."

Eggsy wished that was enough to make him feel better. He’d asked his father’s old friends to protect Daisy though, and he should have known he’d have to pay the price for making a deal with the devil.

For now, he just had to focus on getting Daisy better. Then he could worry about getting Mum to forgive him. He tried to concentrate on that thought as they made their slow way through London.

#

The cab dropped them off at the children’s hospital.

Eggsy followed in Merlin's wake as they made their way through the hospital's front door, past the receiving desk, and through a series of hallways.

People in scrubs were everywhere. Some stood, talking in clumps, others shepherded families passed murals featuring brightly colored animals and flowers before disappearing into the rooms they passed.

Merlin and Eggsy took an elevator up two floors, jammed in with a hospital bed holding a little kid who looked about three. Eggsy made faces at him and had him giggling by the time he and Merlin get off on the hospital's third floor. They went down two more halls, before they finally stop.

This level didn't have the same forced cheer of the halls they had been going through downstairs. The walls are a dull yellow that clashes with the speckled linoleum tiles under foot. Green vinyl and metal chairs line one side of the hallway.

Hart was sitting in one towards the end of the hall, near a nurses station. He looked even more out of place here, than he had standing in the park. All coiffed hair and perfectly pressed suite.

"Any news?" Merlin asked.

"No, she is getting an MRI and a few other brain scans, but they haven't indicated if she will need surgery yet." He looked at Eggsy. "I hope your stay with the police was not to difficult?"

Eggsy didn't know how he was supposed to respond to that. The filth were a lot of things, bastards, cruel, thoughtless, but he could honestly say he'd never though of them as difficult. Shrugging he took a chair two down from where Hart was sitting leaving space for Merlin and making sure he couldn't get boxed in. "Was fine."

"I see-" Hart's tone made it sound like he really didn't see. He looked back to Merlin and they had a whole conversation made of glares and eyebrow wiggles.

Eggsy didn't bother trying to translate it into anything useful. There was too much about the situation he didn't know to get a good read on either of them.

Finally they seemed to sort themselves out, because Merlin lets out a gusty sigh before saying, "Eggsy, I need to get back to work to take care of things, while Harry stays with you."

"That's fine." They'd probably been doing some important shit when Eggsy had dragged them into his domestic. "Thanks for getting me out."

"Of course, and as I said before someone will be keeping an eye on Mrs. Baker in your absence." He gave Hart another speaking look before leaving them there.

It quickly became apparent that Hart didn't know how to deal with waiting. He constantly fidgeted with his glasses and watched every nurse that walked passed as though they were all about to attack him.

Eggsy was tempted to ignore his twitchiness. This day was already strange enough, he didn't need to add more to it. But no way was he going to be able to nap before they heard about Daisy, and he might as well get some information about what was going on.

Besides the fact that his dad had saved a couple of shady bloke's lives and they were determined to repay the debt by making the biggest spectacle possible. "So what were you doing when I called?"

#

They talk off and on for what feels like hours before a nurse finally came out to talk with them.

“Mr. Hart, your niece has been moved to the paediatric intensive care, and we will be holding her for at least a few days. There are some signs of bruising and swelling of her brain, but at this time we don’t foresee needing to do surgery.”

Eggsy almost slid off the chair, relief coursing through him. He hadn’t doomed Daisy by being out of the house and letting Dean get his hands on her.

It took him a few seconds for him to start registering what the nurse was saying again. “There may be some long term damage. We won’t know until she is conscious and the swelling has a chance to go down.”

“Of course.” Hart replied. "Thank you so much for helping her, it is a great weight off my mind to know that she is being well looked after."

The nurse blushed, but firmed her jaw after a second. “I know that you claim this damage was accidentally caused by her babysitter and that you are not planning to press charges but this is reaching levels of criminal neglect, I really fee-”

Hart cut her off, “I will speak with my family lawyer on the matter once we are no longer worried about her immediate well being.”

Her cheeks flushed again, this time with rage as she glared daggers at Hart, but she changed the subject, anyway. “You are welcome to move to the paediatric waiting room, there are sofas there. At least give you a chance to sleep.”

“Thank you again.” Hart said, ignoring the cold shoulder. He gathered together his umbrella and the suit coat that he had finally unbent enough to remove after their first hour of waiting.” Come along Eggsy, Let us go to the paediatric ward.”

The nurse watched them go. If she thought it was odd that Hart knew where the paediatric waiting room was, she didn’t say anything. Eggsy wasn’t about to either. He was just along for the ride.

They sat in the waiting room for another hour before the nurse brought them back to Daisy’s room. She looked tiny in the cot, IV going in through her head and a heat lamp pulled over top of her to help with whatever chill she’d caught while Eggsy had been dragging her around in the snow.

Despite the IV, she looked better. Color was back in her cheeks and she was dressed in mittens, socks, and jammies. Seeing her, safe and sound is finally enough to let Eggsy breathe again. He sank into one of the chairs by the cot, eyes glued to her chest as it slowly rose and fell.

Hart took the other chair for a few minutes, but then he was up and moving again. Going in and out of the room multiple times as his phone buzzed and chimed. It was almost enough to make Eggsy want to investigate, but right now his curiosity was secondary to the drive to keep an eye on Daisy.

He fell asleep in the chair without really meaning to and didn’t wake up until a nurse came in to tell them visiting hours were over and they’d have to come back tomorrow.

Leaving Daisy there, was one of the hardest things he’d done in the last few days, and that included taking her in the first place. But she’d be safe here, and he was already nodding off again while he stood by her cot.

He didn’t have the energy to kick up a fuss when Hart guided him out of the hospital and back into a posh cab.

He only got flashes of Hart’s house as he followed Hart up the stairs and to a bedroom. Polished wood and brass was everywhere, with thick ornamental rugs under foot and dead bugs of all things on the walls.

Then he was stripping off and falling into bed and the house didn’t matter anymore.

#

Eggsy woke up groggy and out of sorts. The light was all wrong where it was coming through the window, and he rolled over and pulled the blankets over his head rather than deal with it.

What the fuck had he been drinking last night. He snuggled into the sheets, smooth and body warm beneath him. He must have taken a kip a Jamal’s or something. The sheets in his room where never this soft or good smelling. And he was warm which was another point to this not being his flat.

Dozing back off was easy, he was exhausted and warm and nobody was screaming. He'd wake up when whoever's bed he'd nicked wanted to get in and go back to sleep.

He partially woke up a few more times, before he was finally able to place what was wrong with where he was sleeping. He jolted upright and looked around the room. He'd barely noticed it last night after two days of stress and a night of barely sleeping.

It screamed posh. All light coloured woods and blues in a million shades that all look like they should clash but didn't. Weirdest part was the glass cases of butterflies that hanging in bunches around the wall.

Hart had seemed like a weirdo last night, but this was a little much. Still, he didn't have time to worry about rich tof's decorating habits. His bladder was fit to burst, and he needed to see how Hart was planning to get him back to the hospital.

Hopefully Hart wouldn't decide to come with him. Sitting next to him for half the night, waiting on updates for Daisy had been enough to make Eggsy contemplate murder. No need to push that urge any further than he had to.

He climbed out of the bed, clad only in his undershirt and boxer pants. He considered the pile of trackies he'd left beside the bed. No way did he want to put those on just to go take a piss and he needed to go too bad to worry about digging through his backpack.

He'd find the loo, then Hart, and then worry about the clothes situation.

He had to a check a couple doors before he found the loo door downstairs. By that point his bladder was dancing the two step, and he wasn't paying much attention to his surroundings.

Then he looked up and met the knowing glass eyes of a stuffed dog. He couldn't stifle the yelp as he jumped back, his dick leaking on the floor.

He didn't know how long the staring match between him and the black dog — who was proudly perched above a brass plaque that read "Mr. Pickles" — lasted before a thumping on the door behind him distracted him. What a fucking morning.

"Yeah, what is it?" he called to whoever was knocking at the door.

"I heard a yelp." Hart's tone was perfectly polite but strongly suggested that he thought Eggsy was an imbecile for yelling in a bathroom.

What a fucking dickhead. "Sorry Hart, just wasn't expecting to come nose to nose with a dog, now was I?"

"Mr. Pickles was a good companion and I'm glad to have him watching over me after his death." Hart agreed.

That set Eggsy's eyes to rolling. Middle age toffs, who knew what their brain got up to "That's nice!" And completely weird but whatever.

"I suggest getting ready quickly, we don't want to be late leaving for the hospital."

"Yes Sir." At least that took care of how to convince Hart to let him see Daisy. Because the little dog had definitely thrown him off his flattery game.

It was going to be a long couple weeks, waiting for Daisy to heal back up. But the fact that she was going to heal up was enough to keep him from regretting anything.

#

Eggsy took one of the posh cabs back to the hospital, while Hart left for work in another. He didn't say where work was, and Eggsy didn't ask. He knew enough to know they were some kinda MI5 outfit and that he'd probably have to get locked up or shot if he started digging into things he wasn't supposed to know.

Curiosity had always been one of his biggest weaknesses, but it was easy to reign in when Daisy's health was on the line. The same nurse as before was on shift when he arrived at the paediatric ICU. She buzzed him into the ward with barely a glance.

Daisy didn't look much different. Still too still, with an IV in her head, but there was already more color back in her cheeks and her eyes looked less sunken in. When he lay his palm against her chest she was warm, and her chest rose and fell steadily.

He had to force himself to let go over her, to pull over one of the chairs, until he was close enough to snake his hand through the cot's bars. He held her hand and settled in for a long wait.

Daisy was whisked out of the room a few times during the day for more brain scans. She was still unconscious by the time visiting hours are over and he had to leave again, but the Doctor seemed optimistic that she would be waking up soon. The swelling in her brain was going down, and the bleeding hadn't gotten any worse.

Eggsy was willing to wait as long as it took. She'd wake up eventually, and he'd be here when she did.

#

Eggsy’s days started falling into a schedule. He spent most of the morning and afternoon at the hospital  
and in the evenings Harry taught him toff etiquette and having long monologues about missions that he had worked for the Kingsman. He constantly quizzed Eggsy on how he would have handled this mission or what he though had caused that problem.

Some of it was interesting, most of it was boring. What was the point of memorizing a hundred different etiquette rules or all the current leaders of the EU, when he'd be going back to working the streets or house breaking in a few weeks?

Hart waved those types of questions off, saying things like 'The value of a true gentleman is being better than his past self' or 'One never knows when they might be able to transform themselves'

Which Eggsy mostly figured was some kind of Toff way of saying 'Cause I said so.'

Daisy was getting better every day. She'd woken up her second day in the hospital, and the swelling continued to go down. After a week they had taken the IV out and she was able to start rolling over again, and had even started pushing herself up to stare at him through the bars of the cot until he came and got her up.

She was still mostly cooing and crying which the doctor seemed worried about, quoting statistics about the beginnings of speech and learning delays. Eggsy tried not to worry too much about it. She'd not been talking before Dean had gotten his hands on her.

She'd start when she was ready. For now, he was happy to interpret her noises, and rock her through her screaming fits.

#

Eggsy and Harry were having yet another manner's lesson over dinner. Eggsy had just gotten home from the hospital. Harry, who'd been gone for most of a week on some unspecified mission, seemed to think that meant it was the perfect time to quiz him on all the homework Harry had left for him.

Harry stopped mid sentence as someone began pounding on the door. He straightened up, like a dog about to go after prey. Eggsy tensed right along with him. His luck it was going to be Dean and his cronies at the door.

Instead a familiar scottish brogue trickled through the door as they approached it. "Harry, let me bloody in. I know you're in there."

All the starch went straight out of Harry's spine, and his face melted into something affectionate and easy. Nothing that Eggsy had ever seen on him before. He knew Harry had some affection for him, wanted to fix him, but that affection came out as frustration more often than not.

Merlin practically fell in the door when Harry opened it. He reeked of alcohol, and Eggsy was already bracing to interfere, when Merlin lunged towards Harry. But instead of going for a punch, he just picked Harry up in a giant bear hug.

That left Eggsy gaping, and Harry looking pained. Though whether that was because the man was hugging him too tight, or because of the wrinkles in his shirt Eggsy couldn't say.

"Merlin, what has got you so upset?" He asked, once Merlin put him back down, and he had a chance to catch his breath.

Merlin slowly blinks at him for a few minutes. "Wot?"

"You don't go drinking unless something has gone wrong." Harry pulled him the rest of the way inside and closed the door behind him. "Nobody from the shop messaged me?"

Merlin glanced towards where Eggsy was standing in the dining room's doorway. "Not really something the lad needs to hear."

Harry nodded and turned to Eggsy. "I think we have done enough studying tonight, you can practice tomorrow while I'm at work. It would be best if you returned to your room."

Eggsy was already backing away. He had enough experience dealing with violent drunks, he didn’t need more.

After he was safely back in his bedroom, he started to feel bad for leaving Harry alone with Merlin while he’d been drinking, but there were no screaming or crashes coming from downstairs.

And Harry was some kind of special agent, not Mum. He could handle one drunk. He kept reminding himself of that as he finished his homework and got ready for bed.

#

When Eggsy went down to leave for the hospital the next morning, Merlin had the breakfast table set with a full breakfast.

Eggsy barely had a chance to tuck in before Merlin apologised. “I’m sorry for coming here while drunk, Eggsy. I know it made for a mess. It won’t happen again.”

“Sure thing.” Eggsy said. He was sure Merlin didn’t think he would do it again, but this was a familiar song and dance.

Merlin’s mouth pinched. “Once you know me better, you will learn that I’m a man of my word.”  
Eggsy shrugged and concentrated on his breakfast. He’d believe it when he saw it.

#

Merlin seemed to take the idea of proving he could be trusted seriously. He started coming over a couple nights a week, heckling Harry's attempts to teach Eggsy manners and checking in on how Daisy’s recovery was going.

He also seemed to get amusement from gently mocking all the gentleman talk that Harry liked to throw around. It was enough to give Eggsy some breathing room. Eggsy can hardly be blamed for getting distracted in his gentlemanning lessons with Harry when Harry himself spent half the lesson having a fight with Merlin.

Having him there was enough to let Eggsy start to come out of his shell and talk back to Harry a little.

Instead of fighting the constant urge to sass back, just in case Harry decided that he didn’t want to cover Daisy’s hospital bills or let Eggsy crash with him anymore.

He still felt a gut clenching terror, when he wasn't sure if he'd gone to far, but that was getting better too. Harry was started to feel less like a newer, more powerful version of Dean and more like Jamal or one of Eggsy's other mates.

Someone he could actually trust to not fuck him over.

# 

After a month in the hospital, Daisy was almost ready to come home. Her scans were good, and she hadn't had any seizures though the doctors were warning those could start as she got older. She had gained a pound from being able to have as much formula as she wanted, and the hospital had even okayed her to start on rice cereal. 

Even her crying jags had eased off after the hospital did allergy testing and figured out she couldn't handle milk. Seeing her so happy and healthy was amazing, but it left Eggsy with a gut clenching terror. 

Even if Harry and Merlin arranged for people to keep an eye out at the flat, to make sure Dean didn't hurt Daisy again while he was out, there was no way he'd be able to keep her this well fed or taken care of. And what if the seizures or other developmental regression symptoms the doctor warned about happened? 

That would mean doctors and therapist visits, needing to have someone able to stay with her at all times to watch for seizures. None of that was doable, with Mum the way he was and Eggsy splitting time between street walking and stealing to make ends meet. 

# 

“I know I've already got the favour called in, but do you know if there is anything you could do to help with keeping Daisy looked after we're back at the Estate?” He asked Harry the next morning over a late breakfast. 

It felt weird staying at Harry's so late into the morning, instead of hopping into the cab first thing, but he wanted to have this out now. Harry didn't always come back from work when missions came up and there was only two days before they were releasing Daisy. 

He didn't want to get caught with his pants down. 

Harry froze, fork halfway up to his mouth, a bit of egg dangling from the end. He stared at Eggsy for a long second, his eyes wide behind his glasses. Finally he gathered himself and put the fork down on the plate and leaned back in his chair. “What made you think you were going back to the Estate?” 

“Because Daisy is doing better and we need to get back to Mum.” He'd tried to call her a few times over the last month, but she hadn't answered. He'd called Jamal to check in that she wasn't hurt or anything, but except for saying she'd looked fine when he'd seen her down at the shops, Jamal couldn't tell him much. 

“You have so much potential, Eggsy. It would be a shame to see it wasted with criminal activity. I thought you would come work with me once Daisy was healed up.” If he noticed Eggsy's shock, he didn't show any sign of it as he continued, “we don't have any openings for Knights, but there are always a number of lesser agent positions open.” 

“Why the fuck do you think I want to be some kind of spy?” He could just imagine trying to explain that to, Mum. She'd go into full on hysterics. 

“You have excelled at all the challenges I have given you. And you understand the importance of protecting those that can't protect themselves. All of your marine records show that you would be able to handle the more physical aspects.” Harry went back to eating his eggs. “I understand that you may not be as confident in your ability to do the job, given your upbringing but I'm sure with a few months of training you will see my point of view.” 

Eggsy wanted to argue, to say he didn't want to become some kind of secret agent, but what else could he do? If becoming a spy was what it took to get Daisy and Mum got looked after did he really have any other options? 

At least Harry didn't seem to expect him to be excited about the idea. He points out a few flaws with the way Eggsy is holding his silverware, but otherwise he doesn't make any attempts at conversation.   
#   


They went to pick Daisy in the black cab. Despite the fact he hadn't been to the hospital since Daisy's first day there, Harry was still down as her guardian. So he had to be the one to sign the paperwork for her release. 

Usually, when Eggsy came alone, he wore one of the track suits he'd brought from the flat, but Harry insisted that he dressed properly. So they were in matching suits and Eggsy's hair was slicked back like a tof. 

“Good practice for when you become an agent.” Harry had said when Eggsy complained about the fuss. 

The nurses were all nervousness, flicking anxious looks at Harry in his expensive suite and pocket watch. But their faces relaxed, and their smiles look a little more genuine when they met Eggsy's eyes behind Harry's back. Some even dared a raised eyebrow or smirk to see him all gussied up in posh wear rather than his usual track suits and trainers.

That was all the warmth they have time for, though, before they were back to acting like a perfect, opinion-less workforce ready to do whatever it took to get Harry to leave the hospital quickly, and preferably without trying to sue them.

Daisy had been moved out of the Paediatric ICU and into a regular room after her scans had started coming out clear. She was waiting for him in her cot, pushed up into a partial crawl so she could watch the room's door. Normally when she caught sight of Eggsy, it would get him a big smile, showing her first few teeth that were growing in. This time she looked unsure. Her usual happy noises were traded for a soft, confused whines. 

It took him longer than it should to realise that she probably didn't recognise him all poshed up. Approaching slowly, he started talking to her to give her the chance to recognise him. "Hello, my days. Don't you look so pretty today?" And guess what we got you a nice princess dress to go into. You'll look like the prettiest lady in the whole hospital, won't you?"

She's started cooing and rolled onto her back so she could reach up for him, even before he's gotten the sides of the cot lowered. "There's my happy girl."

She started yanking on his tie pretty much as soon as he picked her up before shoving it into her mouth and happily gumming away. It was a fight getting it back away from her so he could get her changed. 

The dress fit perfectly, as did the tiny, leather Mary Janes that had been tucked into the bag with them. 

Daisy had not been impressed by the fit, immediately making frustrated grunts and trying to yank them off again, until Eggsy distracted her again with his tie. 

He carried her out to the nurses station where Harry was signing a stack of papers. Daisy's doctor stood with him, talking a mile a minute. Going on and on about follow-up visits and setting up schedules for occupational therapy and signs of possible regression. 

Eggsy had heard it all before, but he still listened carefully to make sure he hadn't missed anything before. 

# 

Harry dropped them back at his house before heading to work. It was good having Daisy back with him, it felt like having a part of his body get reattached. 

She spent most of the day strapped in her carrier, cooing to herself or sleeping while he worked on the mission planning assignment Harry had given him. If he was going to be stuck being a spy, he needed to be the best damn spy he could. No way was he going to end up leaving Daisy unprotected like his Dad had left him. 

He lost track of time, focused on taking in as many of the details as he could. He didn't notice Harry hadn't come home from dinner until there was a knock on the door. Merlin was standing on the stoop, a bag of Chinese takeout in hand. “I figured you wouldn't have had time to knock something up, with the poppet here.” 

He leaned down until he was nose to nose with Daisy. She made a grab for his glasses which he deflected by giving her a finger to hold. “And may I say it's good to see you looking better, Miss Daisy.” 

Eggsy got Daisy untangled from Merlin and ignored her grumpy whines as he led Merlin into the house. “You'll have to excuse the mess. I was using the dining room for the project Harry wanted me to work on.” 

Much as Eggsy wanted to shove the whole mess to the side, he started stacking it up neatly instead. He did not want to have to redo anything because he misplaced his notes. Merlin went into the kitchen and Eggsy could hear him getting things dished up. 

He was back with the plates of food before Eggsy got everything back in order. Trying to keep Daisy from getting hold of the papers had slowed him down. 

“Here, let me help.” Merlin put the dishes down on the corner of the table and started helping him stack things. 

After a page or two he froze, on of the maps Harry had printed out in his hand. “Where did you get this?”

“Harry gave it to me. Wanted me to study the mission. Said it would be good for me.” He sounded way guiltier than he meant to. He'd just figured Harry had gotten permission to have him look at this stuff. He hadn't meant to grass on anybody. 

Merlin's brows were furrowed, and he was frowning when he handed the paper to Eggsy, but he didn't say anything more about it. Instead he put the plates in place and went back into the kitchen. There were a few loud bangs, but Eggsy left him to it. 

And by the time he came back with a warm bottle for Daisy he looked a lot calmer. 

Eggsy still kept a wary eye on him as they dug into the food, but he didn't seem like he was about to blow up. They made it through the food, and were on to the fortune cookies, when Merlin brought the map up. 

“Why did Harry think you needed to be studying missions?” 

It was a suspiciously mild question but Eggsy doesn't know of a good answer he can give without grassing on Harry. He concentrated on cleaning up the mess Daisy had made eating her gruel instead. 

Merlin let out a sigh. “I can guess if it would make you feel better? I'm not exactly planning to report to tell our bosses what he was up to.” 

Eggsy shrugged his shoulder and chanced a look at Merlin over Daisy's head. Trying to gauge how good a chance he had of guessing what Harry's plan was. 

“He wants to get you involved in our organisation somehow, probably. But I'm not sure why you are going along with it?” He let that question hang, giving Eggsy a chance to explain without actually going into Harry's reasoning. 

Eggsy could ignore it, he was pretty sure Merlin wouldn't force him to admit anything. He'd probably just wait until Harry got home and take the problem up with him. But having someone to talk about his fear with sounded too good. “He wants me to become an agent. Said there wasn't a Knight opening whatever that means, but seems to think I could do something to help out.” 

Merlin sprawled back in his chair, and pressed his fingers to the bridge of his nose, “Of course he does, but why are you going along with it? You already left he marine's to come back and look after Daisy, and then burned your life to protect her from your stepfather. Why would you want to leave her to go running around the world?” 

“The doctors were saying she was doing really well, but there is a high likelihood of seizures and maybe regression or developmental delays when Daisy's older. I need a way to support her and Mum that will cover her getting her back and forth to appointments, or having someone stay with her when I'm not there. And what if she needs special school? Dean won't do anything for her if he doesn't flip and try to get mum to send her to some kind of institution.” It was hard to think of that kind of future for her, when she was in his arms, happy and safe. But if he didn't think about it, who would? 

“I see.” Merlin sat for a long time, before he spoke again. “You know that you have other options, right? I can set you up with a job in my department. One that wouldn't send you into combat and would rarely take you overseas. Or I could help you get tutoring so you could take your A levels and get back into school or help you find a trade school position.” 

Eggsy's grip on Daisy tightened convulsively. That- that was a lot of options. “What would I owe you?” 

Merlin reached out towards him, slowly enough that Eggsy could move away if he wanted to. Eggsy let him make contact, taking comfort from the weight of Merlin's hand on his shoulder. “You won't owe me anything. I don't have a lot of friends and using my influence to help those that I do have is one of the benefits of my position.” 

That didn't sit right with Eggsy. People always had an angle when they were offering a favour. Even when they thought they didn't. “What do you think would be best?” 

“I think you would do well in a trade position or working with me. School could make it hard to keep an eye on her and wouldn't provide money to cover her needs for a few years. 

“What would I be doing if I worked for you? Harry at least it makes sense. I'm good at fighting, thieving, and picking up Johns. Most of the missions he's shown me, that's the kind of skill you need.” 

“A lack of self preservation instinct and a love of blowing things up, helps too,” Merlin added. “We do the groundwork and clean up the messes that the agents leave behind. It's a lot of research and keeping your cool when everything goes to shit and refusing to back down when an agent tries to go against orders. And Harry is one of my most pigheaded agents. The fact that you haven't murdered him yet, is a good sign.” 

Eggsy couldn't help the smirk at the comment about Harry. “That doesn't exactly sound like something I'm qualified for.” 

“Perhaps not yet, but you know how to do what the agents would be doing so you'd be able to guide them.” He motioned towards the pile of mission planning papers. “And you have already started to learn the process of researching. If Harry and I vouch for you, you won't have a problem getting a junior analytics job.” 

“Would he actually go for that?” Eggsy asked. 

Merlin's smile was all teeth. “He will if he knows what is good for him.” 

It was a lot to think about, and Merlin didn't pressure him. Instead he told colourful stories about some of the missions that Harry had given Eggsy the plans for. They sounded a lot more fun, and a lot more messy than Harry had implied when Merlin was describing them. 

#   
Merlin went home when it's Daisy's bedtime, but a packet that holds a variety of trade school options and a job offer arrives by courier or the next morning. 

He wanted to go with the trade school, it seemed like a better way to get out from under Merlin's thumb, but it couldn't stand up to the offer to work for what on paper appeared to be Kingsman Tailors. Full child care benefits and enough money to rent a flat. 

There was a note attached to the offer, 'Can make arrangements for you to be listed as Daisy's guardian. Let me know' 

If he took the job offer, it would mean leaving Mum with Dean. Because no way was she going to approve of him working with the men she blamed for Dad's death. 

He looked back at the trade school programs again. Even the shortest would mean a year before he could get an entry-level job. Even with Merlin easing the way to get him into the program and a job after that was a lot of time of trusting Mum to keep Daisy safe from Dean. 

And if Mum ever figured out, he'd gotten the school placement through the Kingsman she'd flip. Damn it, why couldn't any of this be easy. 

He got Daisy bundled up in one of the dresses that Harry had gotten her and put a thick coat over it, before strapping her into the carrier. She whined, annoyed about being woken from a nap to go stomping about but once he got his own coat back on and they made it to the bus, she was already asleep again. 

# 

The Estate looked as rough as ever. It was late morning, Dean should be up and at the pub by now, but Eggsy still didn't like the idea of chancing him being home. He really wished Mum had been answering her phone. 

After a few minutes of watching from a distance, there was no movement from their flat, and he had to chance it. The door had been fixed and a new lock meant he couldn't use his key to get in. Instead he knocked softly, praying that Mum would hear him and nobody else would spot him standing here and tell Dean. 

The door creaked open and Mum looked out him through the crack. “Oh Eggsy, you're back. Did you bring-” 

He turned so she could see Daisy strapped to his front. 

She opened the door the rest of the way and he followed her inside. The door to his room was open and he could see that it was wrecked. That wasn't a surprise, he ignored it, heading for the kitchen table instead. “I wanted to come check in on you.” 

“Oh, it's going okay. Dean is still right pissed, which is only fair. He says that he thinks the filth has   
been tailing him.” She took Daisy from him once he got her out of the carrier. 

It probably was the Kingsman people, tailing Dean, but no need to tell her that. 

“Hello my Days.” Mum started rocking slightly pacing a familiar route around the kitchen. “Did you miss me?” 

Daisy cooing in response. She still wasn't making proper sounds, but she was definitely getting more expressive. “Thank you for bringing her back, I knew you'd reconsider messing around with those   
Bastards if I just gave you some time.” 

“Mum,” Damn this was hard. “I wanted to come talk to you because I got a job offer?” 

“Oh?” She didn't look up from Daisy 

He continued on anyway. “It's office work, but it'll be enough to pay for a flat, and it comes with child care. We can leave now, without having to worry about the shelters or anything.” 

She looked up at him then. “Not this again, Eggsy. Dean is my husband, and Daisy's father, you can't just expect us to leave without him.” 

“He's-” 

“And don't think I didn't notice you didn't say who you would be working for,” She interrupted. I won't take anything from those bastards, and you should never have gotten them involved. 

Why had he thought coming here would solve anything? “I had to Mum. Daisy had a brain bleed. The doctors are saying she could have symptoms for years.” 

“That's nonsense. They're just lying to you. She'll be just fine.” 

“Mum.” 

“No!” She snapped. Staring him hard in the eyes. “No, she's fine and they are making things up. Dean wouldn't hurt her like you said he did.” 

That was when he would usually back down, go along with what she wanted. He couldn't protect her if she was too pissed to listen, but not this time. “He did hurt her, Mum. He did and he'll do it again if you let him.” 

The door slammed open before she could keep protesting. Dean was standing there, flanked by his Dogs. “Well Muggsy, you decided to come back, huh? After grassing on me to the filth. I couldn't believe it when Rotty said he'd seen you skulking about.” 

“I didn't grass on you, Dean.” Eggsy stood up, backing away from the table to put some space between them. 

“Right, that's why I've got people lurking about. Cause you kept your mouth shut.” Dean stalked towards him, Rotty and a couple of the others fanning out to block his exit. 

Mum got between them. “Dean, please. He wouldn't do that, I swear. He knows better.” 

“Shut the fuck up!” He hit her so hard she fell to the ground, barely managing to keep hold of Daisy. 

Eggsy jumped forward, trying to get to Dean before he could hurt Mum any more. But it wasn't quick enough to stop the kick he aimed towards Daisy. Mum rolled over her and took the kick to her ribs instead. Thank God. 

Then Eggsy was between them, bracing to take the next kick. Then there was a series of pops from by the door and Dean was keeling over clutching his kneecap. Rotty and the others dropped a second after, all grabbing at a leg or their chest and moaning. 

A blond woman popped through the door, a short barrel shot gun in one hand. “You gotta love rubber bullets,” she chirped. “Sorry for the delay we wanted to make sure we got everybody in one go.” 

He nodded. He half wanted to ask who she was, but the bespoke suite she was wearing meant he had a good guess. “Thanks for the assist.” 

Turning he went to crouch next to Mum. “You okay?” 

She was sobbing quietly, “He wasn't supposed to hurt her.” 

“I know, Mum. But we need to go before he gets back up. Please, just come with me this time. I know you hate them for taking Dad, but I don't know of any other way to keep you two safe.” 

She looked up at him, her face tear streaked. He could see Daisy, red faced and squalling beneath her. 

“But what if they take you too?” 

“Then you and Daisy will have to survive. But is it any better to let Dean take her?” 

Mum didn't reply out loud, but she got to her feet, Daisy still squirming in her arms. She looked down   
at Dean who was still rolling around on the floor. Then she handed Daisy over to Eggsy and yanked her wedding ring off and threw it down on Dean. “I'll go pack my bag.”   
Eggsy clutched Daisy and stifled the urge to cry himself. Maybe he'd have a chance to protect them both after all. 

# 

Eggsy watched the recruits lining up in the barracks he and Merlin had prepared. They were only missing Harry and his recruit now. 

Merlin came to stand beside him. “Are you sure you don't want to try for the position of Lancelot? I know Harry still wanted you for his candidate and you would do a great job.” 

He thought of Daisy, just starting Kindergarten and Mum, proudly finishing her Honours degree. “No, I'm happy with how things are. I don't need a change.” 

Merlin clapped him on the shoulder. “That's good to hear.” 

Harry ran in, his candidate on his heels. Merlin stepped away to meet them. “Late as always, Galahad.” 

Fin


End file.
